Clinton Administration Shifts Gears on Reading Bill

The Clinton administration said last week it would support the
Republican version of pending literacy legislation instead of holding
fast to the reading proposal President Clinton unveiled during his 1996
presidential campaign.

The Republican-backed literacy bill, the Reading Excellence Act, is
a counterpart to President Clinton's America Reads proposal, which
would provide money for schools to recruit 1 million volunteer tutors
and hire reading specialists and AmeriCorps workers.

Marshall S. Smith, the acting deputy secretary of education, told
reporters last week that the administration would support the
Republican bill, HR 2614, with a few amendments to a pending Senate
version.

Bills to create the new literacy programs and revamp a federal
charter school program won quick passage in the House as members rushed
to finish business last week. But the Senate won't take up the measures
until Congress returns to Capitol Hill next year.

While the Education Department maintained that the Reading
Excellence Act is similar to America Reads, GOP observers and others
had a different view.

"It is nothing like America Reads," said Jay Diskey, the spokesman
for the House Education and the Workforce Committee. "This White House
is going to take credit for anything that happens in education in this
town."

Chasing the 'Parade'

Teacher training, based on reliable, replicable reading research,
was a priority of the GOP measure's main sponsor, Rep. Bill Goodling of
Pennsylvania, the chairman of the Education and the Workforce
Committee.

"Instead of relying on AmeriCorps volunteers who have even less
training, the Reading Excellence Act focuses on training teachers to
teach reading," Mr. Goodling said in a statement.

Bruce Hunter, the government-relations director for the American
Association of School Administrators in Arlington, Va., said the White
House was backed into its current position after many education groups
announced their support for the Republican bill.

"They saw a parade and ran around and got in front of it," he said.
"They knew that all of us liked Mr. Goodling's bill better than their
bill."

One contentious element of the Republican bill would allow schools
in impoverished areas to give "tutorial assistance grants" to parents
of children having trouble learning to read. The grants could be used
to hire tutors on lists compiled by school officials. ("GOP Tutoring Grants Inspire Concerns,
Praise," Oct. 22, 1997.)

While Democrats and many education lobbyists have described the
so-called TAGs as vouchers, Republican sponsors dispute that, noting
that schools would be the ones to choose which providers' names
appeared on lists of potential tutors.

Mr. Hunter said, in supporting the House-passed bill, the White
House may be hoping to gain leverage for removing the TAG
provision.

The education funding bill Mr. Clinton signed last week sets aside
$210 million toward a new literacy proposal, pending congressional
passage of authorizing legislation for such a program by next April 1.
Mr. Clinton had requested $260 million for America Reads.

The charter school bill, HR 2616, would give incentives to states
that allow autonomy but have a system to hold charter schools
academically accountable. It increases the time a charter school can
receive a federal grant, from three to five years.

Charter School Hike

Some Democrats and educators, though, have cautioned against putting
too much hope into the relatively new movement. Charter schools receive
public funding but operate free of most state regulations.

While the bill that would reconfigure the federal charter school
program has yet to pass the Senate, more funding for charter schools is
already in the fiscal 1998 budget.

The 1998 appropriation for charter schools was set at $80 million in
the spending bill Mr. Clinton signed last week.

The allotment represents an increase over the $51 million spent for
fiscal 1997, but also fell short of Mr. Clinton's request of $100
million. In 1996, federal funding for charters was only $18
million.

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